Lower rice prices seen as India lifts export ban

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the lifting of India’s rice export ban could help stabilize the global supply of the staple and reduce prices here and abroad.

In a government order issued over the weekend, India announced the lifting of the moratorium on exporting nonbasmati white rice (semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed).

However, it imposed a minimum export price of $490 per ton “with immediate effect and until further orders,” the Sept. 28 notice from India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade stated.

“We hope that [the] world price of rice will go down a bit,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Monday.

Separately, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said that removing such a restriction would alleviate the pressure on global prices since more rice volumes would now be traded internationally.

Since the restriction has been eased, more volumes of rice can be sold to the global market,” De Mesa said in an interview.

“The important thing here is it will improve the global trading of rice, which will have an impact on the overall price of rice around the world (translated from Filipino),” he said.

De Mesa, also the DA’s spokesperson, noted that India’s decision is crucial since the South Asian country accounts for 40 percent of tradable rice in the international market.

The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) said India’s move to allow the exporting of nonbasmati white rice may temper retail prices even if the Philippines imports a small volume of rice from this nation, noting it could boost global supply.

In a message, FFF national manager Raul Montemayor said the minimum export price set by India is about 10 percent or $50 percent lower than the equivalent prices of Thailand and Vietnam, the country’s major sources of imported rice.

“Historically, Filipino importers have not patronized Indian rice despite their lowest prices due to a variety of reasons (quality, reliability, etc.). In the past, more rice from Pakistan was imported than from India,” FFF national manager Raul Montemayor said in a message.

Montemayor said African and Middle Eastern countries are expected to resume importing rice from India after temporarily shifting to Asian suppliers when the ban was still in place.

“Lower demand could force Asian exporters like Thailand and Vietnam to lower their prices to maintain their market share, and this could mean lower import prices overall for Filipino importers,” he added.